Under the Circumstances
by SistaSouljah
Summary: A kiss is just a kiss. Or is it? NS.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: If it's familiar to you, it doesn't belong to me.

* * *

"I told you we should have come earlier."

"We'll still get in, the movie's not going to sell out. Relax."

"But we have to wait in this long line," Nick whined. He rocked back and forth on his heels and turned around in circles, like a fidgety child who was getting impatient.

"Suck it up, Nick. And would you stand still?" Sara chided in a motherly tone.

"Why?"

"Because you're making me anxious."

"Why?"

"Because your fidgeting is annoying."

"Why?"

"Nick!" Sara warned with an evil eye.

Nick couldn't help but chuckle, proud that he'd successfully annoyed Sara. But his smile quickly faded when he spotted someone walking towards the line that he and Sara were standing in. He turned his back to the approaching figure and grabbed Sara's shoulders to pull her in front of him. "Quick, kiss me."

"What?" Sara was in no mood for any more of Nick's childish behavior.

"Kiss me," Nick repeated with more urgency.

Sara rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. "Nick, I'm not-"

Sara's words were silenced by Nick's lips, and while not immediately comprehending what was going on, she found herself responding fully, her arms drifting over his shoulders as she felt his hands on her hips, pulling her towards him. Just as she was beginning to realize how good, or rather great, the kiss was, they were interrupted.

"Nick?"

Nick pulled away from Sara at the sound of his name being called by someone behind him. He turned around. "Uh, hey, Julia, how are you?" Nick smiled and tried to act surprised as he hugged the woman, pretending he hadn't already seen her coming.

"I'm doing great," Julia smiled at him.

"What are you doing in Vegas?" Nick asked.

"Work, actually. We're here for a couple weeks, shooting some scenes for a movie."

"Finally made it to Hollywood, huh?"

"I wouldn't say I've 'made it.' It's all been low budget, indie stuff so far," Julia confessed.

"Well I'm sure your big break will come any day now," Nick smiled.

"I hope so. Bills don't pay themselves," Julia replied as she glanced at Sara.

"Oh, Julia, Sara, Sara, Julia," he introduced the two women to each other.

"Hi," Julia smiled.

"Hi," Sara smiled politely back at the brunette who looked fairly similar to herself, just an inch or two shorter with longer hair.

"Julia and I went to college together," Nick explained, though Sara could tell from the way they had been talking together that they'd been more than just "friends."

"Well I better be on my way, I didn't mean to interrupt your date," Julia said.

"Oh, we're not on a date," Nick replied reflexively with the truth.

"Oh…" Julia, having just interrupted what she thought was a pretty intimate kiss, looked confused.

Realizing his mistake, Nick blurted the first thing that came to mind. "Uh, we're married."

"Oh, wow." Julia was visibly surprised, while Sara tried her best to hide her own surprise, pretending this wasn't news to her also. "For how long?" Julia asked.

"Almost two years," Nick answered.

Sara was impressed at how quickly Nick had responded, and how easily his reply had rolled off his tongue. And somehow, despite her shock and confusion over the revelation of her "marriage," she had the presence of mind to discreetly slip her left hand into her pocket, hiding her naked ring finger. Why she felt the need to play along with this absurd charade she had no idea.

"Wow, with a kiss like that I would have guessed you were newlyweds," Julia teased. "Well congratulations, that's great."

"Uh, thanks," Nick replied, silently praying his cheeks weren't turning pink.

"Well, I really should be on my way," Julia said, the news of Nick being married seeming to have somewhat dampened the cheery attitude she'd had when she first approached him.

"Okay. Well it was nice seeing you," Nick said.

"Yeah, you too. Nice meeting you Sara," Julia smiled.

"Likewise," Sara nodded with a forced smile.

Nick watched Julia for a second as she walked away before turning to Sara, who had her arms crossed and her head cocked as she gave him a look that wasn't deadly, at least not yet.

"Okay, what the hell just happened here?" Her tone wasn't too threatening, which relieved Nick somewhat.

"I saw her walking over here, so I thought if we kissed she wouldn't notice me," Nick explained.

"You think sticking your tongue down someone's throat will cause people to _not_ notice you?" she cocked an eyebrow.

"Sorry," Nick smiled sheepishly. "I guess I kind of got carried away."

"Don't apologize. I didn't say I minded," Sara replied as her lips curled into a small smile.

Nick processed her response for a second. "Oh," was all he could say. "Well sorry about the marriage thing. I panicked."

"Now that does warrant an apology. But I forgive you, as long as we never see her again. I'm not playing wife," Sara smirked as she grabbed Nick by the arm. "C'mon, this line is finally moving, Mr. Impatient." She pulled Nick with her as they moved up, surprised that the people in line behind them hadn't already yelled at them.

They bought their tickets and headed into the theater. As the movie began, Nick's mind was elsewhere, specifically on Sara's comment. What exactly did she mean when she said she didn't mind? Was she saying that she liked the kiss? Nick knew he sure did. He'd always wondered what it would be like to kiss her, and while he wished their first kiss had been under different circumstances, he wasn't complaining. It was better than he'd ever imagined it would be.

After the movie ended they decided to grab some dinner before shift.

"So what's the deal with Julia?" Sara asked when she noticed Nick was unusually quiet.

"We dated in college."

"I figured as much." She paused for a second before probing further. "What happened?"

"We broke up," he quipped.

Sara smirked at his smart ass answer. "Fine. If you don't want to talk about it just say so."

"There's nothing to talk about. We started dating, things didn't work out, so we stopped dating. No big deal," Nick casually replied with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Just another girl in a long line of many, huh?" Sara teased.

This time it was Nick who smirked.

Sara's only reply was a gap toothed grin. "Are you gonna eat that?" She used her fork to point at a cherry tomato on Nick's plate.

Without saying anything, Nick stabbed the tomato with his fork and shoved it in his mouth, chewed twice, and swallowed. He washed it down with a big gulp of water before looking at Sara. "Sorry, did you want that?" he flashed an innocent smile.


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey Warrick," Sara greeted her coworker in an almost too cheery voice as she walked into the break room, a smile gracing her face.

"Hey."  Warrick looked up from the newspaper he was reading and watched Sara as she walked toward the coffee machine with what seemed to be an extra bounce in her step.  Or rather simply a bounce, since, although Sara was a perfectly nice person, she was never one to be overtly chipper and bubbly.

Sara took a seat across from Warrick at the table.  She sipped her coffee and let out a content sigh.  "What?"  She raised an eyebrow at Warrick when she noticed he was staring at her.

He looked at her with a bemused expression on his face.  "You seem so…" He wasn't quite sure how to put it.

"So what?"

"So…happy."  He couldn't think of a better word.  "What's wrong?" he teased as he lowered his eyebrows in mock concern.

Sara smirked at him.  "Am I not entitled to be happy?"

He threw his hands up in defense.  "Hey, I'm just relieved it's possible.  Now if we can just get that gorgeous smile of yours to make an appearance more often we'll be in business," he winked playfully at her.

Sara couldn't help but smile.  Sometimes she hated her job, with all the crime and brutality she saw, but having guys like Warrick, Nick and Greg constantly flirting with her made it bearable.  And while she did appreciate Warrick's comments, at the moment her mind was elsewhere.  On the reason she was so uncharacteristically cheerful that night.  On Nick.  Specifically on the kiss they'd shared earlier that day.  And what a kiss it was.  She'd be lying to herself if she said she'd never wondered what it would be like to lock lips with her charming and incredibly good looking Texan coworker.  But under the circumstances, the kiss that they'd shared was just that.  A kiss.  Nothing more was going to come of it, which she was convinced was a good thing.  They already had a great friendship, and when you threw in the flirty banter, it was almost like they had a "relationship" without all the responsibility and complications of one.  And who would want to mess with something like that?

Sara's thoughts were interrupted by a cheerful drawl.  "Evening all," Nick smiled as he walked into the break room.

"Hey did you hear the rumors of this three team trade between the Raiders, Bucs, and Colts?" Warrick asked Nick, his nose buried in the sports page.

Nick grabbed a mug and proceeded to pour himself some coffee.  "Yeah, but it's gonna fall through," he said to Warrick as he smiled at Sara, who smiled back.  "The Colts are-"

"Have you guys seen Grissom?" Catherine interrupted as she walked in.  "He's not in his office."

"I thought he had that meeting with Atwater," Warrick replied, folding the newspaper closed.

"That was over an hour ago.  And I'm sure he doesn't want to spend any more time with the sheriff than he has to," Catherine said.

"Okay, I'm invoking the five minute rule.  If he's not here by then, I'm outta here," Nick quipped.

"If you're going to leave, I suggest you go to the Venetian," Grissom said as he entered the break room. 

Nick smirked as he grabbed the assignment slip Grissom held out.

"Bachelor party gone bad," Grissom elaborated.  "Cath, you go with."

"Alrighty.  Let's get a move on."  Catherine pushed Nick in the direction of the door.

Catherine glanced over at Nick while keeping her attention on the road as she drove.  "What's up?"

He stared out the window.  "Nothing."  He hoped she couldn't tell that he still hadn't come down from Cloud Nine after the kiss he'd shared with Sara.  He also hoped he'd be able to concentrate on work, and for once he was actually glad he and Sara were working different cases.

"Really," she regarded him with a bit of suspicion.

"Yeah."

"You're kind of quiet tonight."

"I'm fine," Nick replied in an even tone.

"Okay."  Catherine left it at that.  Sure, he was unusually quiet, but not in a bad way, so she didn't see any cause for concern.  He didn't really seem troubled, just a little distracted.

They arrived at the Venetian and found David crouching near a body on the floor of a penthouse suite, Detective Vartan standing next to him.

"What've we got?" Catherine asked.

"Alexandra Chapel, age 25."  Vartan didn't expound any further, as it was obvious from the victim's dress, or lack there of, that she was a stripper hired for the bachelor party.

Nick crouched down next to the assistant coroner.  "What do you think, Dave?"

"Preliminary cause of death, asphyxiation via strangulation.  Lots of bruising around her neck.  Cuts and bruises on her arms too.  She put up a fight," David replied.

Nick sighed.

"Room is registered to a Brian Lambert.  Officers found him and the rest of the party members downstairs at the bar," Detective Vartan told the CSIs.

"I'll go," Nick told Catherine.

"Okay, I'll get started up here," Catherine said.

David left with the body, Nick left with the detective, and Catherine was left to process the suite.  They worked quickly yet efficiently and headed back to the lab.

Catherine noticed Nick was quiet as they drove back, which was again unusual because she knew Nick always liked to start talking out theories on the drive back, eager to dig in and start trying to solve the case.  But unlike their drive to the hotel, this time Catherine realized why Nick was quiet, having been able to study his expressions and demeanor a little more.

"Nicky, Nicky, Nicky," she smiled as she shook here head.

"What?" Nick looked at her curiously.

She chuckled softly.  "You know, I really am happy for you that you're in love, but you being distracted isn't really good for the case."

"Huh?  I'm not in-"

"You and Sara finally go out on a real date?"

His face registered shock.  "What?  No."  He wondered where she got an idea like that, about him and Sara on a date.  Although he thought it was a little strange that Catherine had correctly guessed his behavior had to do with Sara.  What would make her think that?  Of course he'd been harboring feelings for Sara for a while, probably longer than he'd be willing to admit, but he never told anyone.

"You mean someone else besides her is making you like this?  She must be some woman," Catherine teased.

"There is no someone else."  Nick's tone was a bit snippy.

"So you did go out with Sara."

"No."

Catherine glanced in his direction.

"We just kissed," he finally revealed.

"You kissed," she repeated for clarification.

"It's not what you think," he quickly replied, for some reasoning feeling he had to defend himself.

"A kiss is a kiss, Nick."

"Well this was different."

"That good, huh?" Catherine smiled.

Nick didn't respond, but he didn't have to; the color in his cheeks and the smile he failed to suppress spoke for him.  Even so, he wouldn't have been able to lie about it.  It _was_ that good, and he had to give a kiss like that the recognition it deserved.

"So you kissed, but you didn't go out on a date?  What, did you just knock on her door and decide you wanted to make out?" Catherine quipped.

"No.  We were at the movies," he retorted in a curt tone, shifting in his seat.

"Aw, how cute.  Kissing in the dark," Catherine teased, amused by Nick's discomfort.

Nick smirked.  "It wasn't like that.  It was while we were standing in line.  It's complicated," he said with a wave of his hand as he turned to look out the window.

"I'm starting to see that," Catherine replied, still unsure of what exactly had gone on between her two coworkers.  She wasn't surprised; from the day Sara had arrived in Las Vegas she knew there was something between Nick and Sara.  She was just glad that something finally did happen, after nearly four years of shameless flirting.

Once back at the lab, they started working on their case, and before Nick knew it, it was seven in the morning and shift was over.

"Hi," Nick said as he walked into the locker room.

Sara smiled before she even turned around.  "Hey," she greeted him back.  "How's your case coming?"

"Pretty cut and dry.  Bachelor party got out of hand, stripper ended up dead.  How about you?"

"Nothing special, just a 406 at a pawn shop.  At least I got to work solo."

"You heading home?" Nick asked as he opened his locker to stow his gear.

"Yeah."

"You want to grab breakfast?"  He hoped he didn't sound too eager.

"Sure," Sara smiled, amused and somewhat flattered by the fact that Nick seemed more excited than usual at the prospect of having breakfast with her.

Nick slammed his locker shut and turned to her with a smile.  "Great."

The two left the locker room and walked down the hall, running into Catherine on their way.

"Bye Catherine," Sara smiled.

"Have a good morning," Nick chimed in with a smile of his own.

"Yeah, you too." Catherine couldn't help but smile herself as she watched her two cheerful coworkers walk out together.


	3. Chapter 3

"Can I get you two anything else?" the waitress asked after she placed the two plates of food on the table.

Nick and Sara looked at each other for a second before Nick turned to the waitress.  "I think we're good, thanks," he smiled politely.

"Okay.  Enjoy," the waitress smiled and left.

Nick rubbed his hands together and looked at his plate eagerly.  "Ah, food."

Sara rolled her eyes.  She could never remember a time when Nick wasn't hungry.  And as she looked at his full plate of French toast, eggs, and bacon, she didn't doubt that it would be all gone in about twenty minutes.  How could he eat so much and still have a body that looked that good?  She watched as Nick grabbed the ketchup bottle and practically drowned his eggs in a sea of red.  She scrunched up her nose in disgust.

Nick noticed her repulsed look.  "What?"

She communicated by glancing at his eggs and then at him.

He pretended not to catch her silent comment.  He held up the ketchup bottle to her.  "Ketchup?" he offered with a grin.

Sara only rolled her eyes again and turned her attention to her own food.

"Well tomatoes are good for you," Nick muttered as he scooped a forkful of eggs into his mouth.

They ate in companionable silence and no one spoke until they were almost finished with their meals.

"So, I was thinking," Nick said as he stared down at the remnants of his soggy, red-tinted scrambled eggs and idly picked at them.

Sara used her fork to reach over and steal a piece of French toast off of Nick's plate, eating it without protest from him.  "Were you."  She looked at him with intrigue.

He finished off the last of his bacon.  "Yeah."

"Are you going to elaborate on that or am I just supposed to be happy for you that you're capable of processing your thoughts all by yourself?" she quipped.

Nick smirked at her but his expression turned serious again before he spoke.  "I was thinking that maybe it's time we went out on a date."  He'd been thinking about it since their kiss, and he knew he wouldn't have been able to get it off his mind until he went ahead and asked her.  He needed to find his courage and just ask her and get it out of the way; otherwise the anticipation of her acceptance or rejection would have eaten him alive.

"It's time?" Sara thought Nick's choice of words was a little odd.

"Well since we already kissed, I figured the next logical step would be a date," he explained, the calmness of his voice belying the shakiness of his nerves.

"Doesn't the date usually come first?"  There was a hint of teasing in Sara's voice.

"Okay so we're doing things a little backwards."

"Are you sure you're okay with that?  I mean I know how you like order."  She continued with her teasing tone, prolonging Nick's agony.  She already knew she wanted to say yes, but she liked watching him squirm.  He was cute when he was nervous.

Nick raised an eyebrow.  "What? You're the neat freak."

"I've seen how you get when your DVDs get out of alphabetical order," she countered.

"Look, do you want to go on the date or not?" he asked in a tone verging on irritated as he realized nervousness and frustration were not a good combination.

Sara giggled.  "Yeah," she finally said, putting him out of his misery.

Nick's jaw dropped slightly as he looked at her for a second before saying anything.  "Yeah?" He wanted to make sure he'd heard correctly.

"Yeah," Sara repeated with a smile.

Simultaneous feelings of relief and joy washed over Nick.  He smiled back at her.  "Okay."

"Okay," Sara mimicked.

Nick looked at her.  "Now what?"

"Well I think we should pick a day.  That might be helpful," she suggested with a sarcastic smirk.

"Oh, right."  His elation over Sara's acceptance had temporarily inhibited his ability to think clearly.  "Okay, when's your next night off?"

Sara thought for a moment.  "In about three weeks I think."

"Three weeks?"  That was definitely longer than Nick wanted to wait.  "What about tomorrow?  We can have an early dinner before shift."

"Tomorrow?"  Sara wasn't expecting him to pick a day so soon.

"No good?  Well what about-"

"No, tomorrow's good," she smiled.  Even though she wasn't expecting the short notice, it didn't mean she minded.

"Okay.  Great.  Then it's a date," Nick grinned.

"I guess it is," Sara smiled back.

That night, Nick strolled into the break room with a big smile on his face, bigger than the one he usually wore when he greeted everyone at the start of shift.

"You get lucky this morning or something?" Warrick quipped when he noticed Nick's extra cheerful demeanor.

"I hate to disappoint you, since I know how you need to live your sexual fantasies through me, but no."

Warrick scoffed as let out a chuckle.  "I think you got it backwards, bro.  When was the last time you had a date?"

Nick didn't answer, instead coming back with a line of his own.  "Hey, what was the name of that dayshift tech from ballistics you had drinks with last week, the one who came crawling to you after I turned her down?"

Sara and Catherine exchanged a glance before shaking their heads.  Boys will be boys.

Grissom walked in and interrupted their conversation.  "Alright boys and girls, full plate tonight.  Warrick, you're with me, a fire broke out at a tattoo parlor on the Strip, suspicious circs.  Nick, you're on your own.  Hit and run."

"Solo?  Alright!" Nick sounded like a child who had just received a new bike for his birthday.

"Wow, your night just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?" Warrick deadpanned.

Nick smirked at him.  He wasn't going to let Warrick ruin the great day he'd had, first making a date with Sara and now getting to work solo.

"Ladies, 419 at the YMCA pool," Grissom concluded as he handed out the last assignment slip.

They went their separate ways, and Nick's thoughts of his upcoming date with Sara were temporarily put on hold as he immersed himself in his case.  By the end of shift he was both mentally and physically tired, and he was looking forward to a good morning's sleep, hoping to catch enough shuteye so he'd be refreshed for his date.

He was awakened in the late afternoon, an hour before he'd set his alarm clock to go off, by the ringing of his cell phone.  "Stokes," he answered a bit groggily.

"Sorry, were you sleeping?" Sara asked on the other end of the line.

"No.  I mean yeah, but.  What's up?"

"I'm sorry for the short notice, but I didn't want to call until I was absolutely sure."

As Sara paused, Nick immediately realized what she was about to tell him.  "You're still at the lab, aren't you."

"Yeah."  Her tone was apologetic.  "The case is hotter than we expected.  We have the sheriff breathing down our necks, some big political thing," Sara explained.

Nick felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as the disappointment set in.  "Okay, no worries."  Of course he'd had dinner with Sara numerous times before, but this time, because they were calling it a "date," Nick had placed more significance on this particular dinner and had been more eager than usual.  The fact that it was a date meant there was the possibility of more dates, the possibility of changes in their relationship, possibilities he definitely wanted to explore.

"Sorry."  Sara felt genuinely bad as she heard how disappointed Nick sounded.

"No problem, don't apologize.  When duty calls, you have to answer, right?"  Nick tried to lighten the mood.

"Yeah."  Sara couldn't help but smile to herself.  Nick could find the good in any situation.

"Well good luck on your case.  I'll talk to you later."

"Thanks," Sara replied as she hung up and sighed.  She almost scolded herself for wishing she could just leave and go out with Nick instead.  She never imagined that she'd rather go on a date than work.  The strange part was that she didn't understand why it was bothering her so much that they had to postpone; it wasn't like she'd never had dinner with Nick before.  They'd shared many meals, just the two of them, over the years.  Although this time they were calling their meal a date, which meant it wasn't really the same, right?  They couldn't really act like they were just old friends, could they?  There were certain expectations, no matter what their pre-existing relationship was like, that came with the term "date," weren't there?

Sara sighed again.  Regardless, she didn't have time to worry about that now.  She finished up her coffee and walked out of the break room to check in with Greg.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I apologize for the delay in updating; I was going to do it sooner but I've been busy writing letters to CBS and TPTB. I hate to use this fic as a podium, but I encourage you to do the same. We need George, Jorja, Nick and Sara! Save CSI!

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Sara stood at the break room counter pouring herself some coffee when she heard the footsteps of someone walking in.

"Hi," a cheerful voice whispered right behind her ear.

Sara turned around to see a grinning Nick. "Hi," she smiled as she offered him the cup of coffee she had just poured.

"Thanks." Nick took the coffee gratefully. "You okay?" his smile turned to a frown as he gave her a concerned look. Despite her smile, she looked a little weary.

"Yeah, just tired. I'm still trying to recuperate from that double the other night," she explained as she poured another cup of coffee.

"Speaking of the other night," Nick started, referring to their cancelled date.

"I really am sorry," Sara apologized.

"I told you, you don't have to apologize. It wasn't your fault."

"Yeah, I guess," she said as she took a sip of her coffee. "So what are you doing tomorrow?" Sara's expression brightened as she looked at him expectantly.

A big grin spread across Nick's face. "Tomorrow?" He thought for a second before his smile quickly disappeared. "Damn. Warrick and some guys were going to come over and watch the fight, the one that's tonight at Caesar's. They're replaying it tomorrow afternoon on pay-per-view. But I could just tell them something came up."

"No, that's okay, we can just go some other day. I don't want you to cancel your plans just because of me," Sara insisted.

"Why not? I think you're worth it." Nick flashed a flirty smile.

Sara felt her cheeks getting warm. "What about Wednesday?"

Nick's smile broadened. "Wednesday's good."

"Then Wednesday it is," she grinned.

"What's on Wednesday?" Catherine asked as she walked in.

Sara instantly dropped the grin from her face. "Nothing," she answered as both she and Nick took a step back from each other when they realized how close to one another they were standing.

Catherine didn't seem to notice her coworkers' behavior. "Nothing except my first day off in almost three weeks," she said in an exasperated tone. "Did you save any coffee for me?"

Before Catherine could get an answer, Grissom entered the break room. "Highway robbery," was all he said as he held out an assignment slip to Catherine.

Catherine cocked an eyebrow as she took the piece of paper.

"At a gas station along I-15. Two attendants were shot, one killed, registers were cleaned out," Grissom elaborated. He glanced around the room at his team. "Where's Warrick?"

"Right here," Warrick answered as he walked briskly in, knowing he was late.

Grissom didn't waste his breath on any kind of lecture. "You, me and Catherine," he told Warrick. "I'll meet you guys there."

Warrick grabbed the assignment slip from Catherine and skimmed over it. "We're on it." He made a move in the direction of the door.

"Coffee first," Catherine said as she grabbed Warrick's arm, propelling him in the opposite direction towards the coffee machine. He obediently began to pour a cup for himself and for her.

"You two are looking for a dog," Grissom turned to Nick and Sara.

"Huh?" Nick was sure Grissom hadn't said what he thought he said.

"A missing Pomeranian," Grissom added.

"We're looking for a lost dog?" Nick asked for clarification with a baffled expression on his face.

"Are you serious?" Sara looked at Grissom, not believing what she was hearing.

"It's Judge Drew's dog. Well actually his wife's I think. She claims someone broke into their house and stole their dog. They requested CSIs," Grissom explained.

Nick and Sara looked at each other and then at Grissom.

"Detective O'Riley is waiting for you at the judge's house," Grissom said, his tone indicating there would be no more discussion on the matter. He turned to Catherine and Warrick, who he heard snickering behind him. "And Brass is waiting for you at the gas station." He gave the two a pointed stare.

"Right." Warrick put on a straight face as Catherine pushed him in the direction of the door.

"Good luck guys," Catherine said to Nick and Sara as she walked past them.

Sara responded with a glare.

Nick rolled his eyes at Sara's attitude and grabbed her by the arm. "Let's go."

"I can't believe this." Sara sat angrily in the passenger seat with her arms crossed.

"Hey, we have to treat this like any other 406," Nick admonished, keeping his tone level.

"How do they know the dog didn't just run away?" Sara challenged.

"Well if we get there and find no signs of a break in, we'll assume that and then we can close the case early."

"Why can't we just assume that now?"

"If you're that eager to spend some alone time with me, just say so," Nick teased.

Sara punched him playfully on the arm as she tried to restrain her smile. She turned to look out the window when she found she couldn't.

They arrived at the judge's house, and Sara had to swallow her pride when she realized that she was wrong and that there was clearly evidence of a break in. But the case quickly turned interesting when the home received a blackmailing phone call filled with threats of harming the missing Pomeranian, and Sara's anger quickly dissolved as she gave the case her full attention.

"You know, I can still cancel my plans this afternoon," Nick said to Sara as they stood in the locker room, grabbing their things to head home.

"If you're that eager to spend some alone time with me, just say so." Sara gave him a playful smirk.

"Hey, we still on for this afternoon?" Warrick asked as he walked in.

Nick looked at Sara, giving her one last chance to change her mind, but she remained silent. "Yeah," Nick answered.

"You coming?" Warrick asked Sara as he opened his locker.

"Boxing? Uh, pass," Sara replied. While she did look at the sport with a little more respect after that case they'd had a while back, it didn't mean she'd ever find it entertaining to watch.

Warrick shrugged as he slammed his locker shut and slung his jacket over his shoulder. "Suit yourself."

"Four o'clock," Nick reminded Warrick.

"Yeah. See ya," Warrick said with a wave of his hand as he walked out.

Nick and Sara put on their jackets and walked out to the parking lot together.

Nick turned to Sara when they reached her vehicle. "I guess I'll see you tonight."

"Yeah," Sara smiled. "Have a good afternoon."

"You know you can come," he offered. He hadn't even thought to ask until Warrick had asked her if she was coming. He knew she'd decline but he held a small glimmer of hope that she'd say yes. Even though they wouldn't be alone, at least he'd get to see her.

"No, it's okay. Boxing's not really my thing." It would have been nice to spend some time with Nick, even if they weren't alone, but she didn't want to intrude. Besides, boxing really wasn't her thing.

"Okay." Nick tried not to sound too disappointed.

"You guys have fun," she said.

"Thanks." He gave her a smile before walking off.

After an excruciatingly long day that actually seemed like two, Wednesday finally came, and as Sara showered and got ready for dinner with Nick, she unexpectedly started to feel nervous. Nick had suggested Italian food, explaining to her that he knew Italian was Sara's favorite, which it was. Sara had never been to the restaurant before, mainly because whenever she ate out it was usually with coworkers or friends, and the restaurant was too fancy a place to go to for a casual meal.

And because it was a nice place, it meant she would definitely have to wear a dress. The number of dresses in her wardrobe was scant, which didn't give her much of a choice but also made it easier to decide. Although she didn't see why it mattered that much what she wore, since she wasn't really trying to impress Nick. Right? He already knew her so it wasn't like she could make a good first impression with some killer dress. Still, she liked Nick and wanted to look nice, if nothing else just to show her appreciation for taking her out to dinner.

She had narrowed it down to two dresses when her phone rang. She looked at the caller ID and saw it was Nick. "Hey."

"Hey." His greeting didn't have the same cheerfulness that Sara's had. "You're not going to believe this, but Grissom just called me."

"What? Why?" She asked even though she already knew the answer.

"Dayshift is swamped and a double homicide was just called in. He wants me and Warrick to work it with him."

"Why didn't he call me?" Sara was usually the first one Grissom called, because he knew she was always available and would always say yes.

"I don't know. But it looks like we're going to have to postpone. Again. Sorry."

"Yeah." Sara's disappointment was evident in her tone. "Well I guess I'll see you around the lab tonight."

"Yeah. I'll see ya."

Sara hung up and sat down on the edge of her bed. She hadn't realized how much she was looking forward to dinner with Nick until he had called to say he couldn't make it. The first time they had to postpone she was a little disappointed, but this time she was even more so. She'd come to the conclusion that she did have certain expectations of this particular dinner with Nick. She wanted to treat it like a real date, and she was eager to see what was to come of the evening.

She sighed as she stood up, grabbed the two dresses she'd laid out on the bed, and hung them back up in the closet.


	5. Chapter 5

Nick stood in front of his bathroom mirror and adjusted his tie for the third time, making sure it was perfectly straight. Sara was his friend and she probably wouldn't even care if his tie was crooked, but it didn't hurt to look nice. Nevertheless, he just wanted to have a good time. Having already rescheduled twice, he was really looking forward to finally spending the evening with Sara.

His cell phone started ringing and he hurried to grab it off his dresser before his voice mail picked up. "Stokes," he answered, praying it wasn't the lab calling to say he had to come in to work.

"Hey, you want to grab some food before shift? Cath wants to try that new seafood place that just opened next to the golf course," Warrick asked.

"Thanks, but I already have plans. I'm actually on my way out right now," he lied, not wanting to get into the details of his "plans."

"Is it that new detective that just transferred from LA?" Warrick assumed Nick meant he had a date.

"No."

"That new A/V tech that Archie's been training?"

"No."

"Then who?" Warrick was puzzled.

"I gotta go man, I'm gonna be late," he lied again, wanting to get Warrick off his back.

Nick's elusiveness was starting to get Warrick suspicious. "Hey, if your 'date' is with takeout and the Discovery Channel-"

"Good-bye, Rick," Nick cut him off by hanging up, shaking his head and smiling to himself. He wasn't ready to tell Warrick or anyone else in the lab about his date with Sara, at least not yet, since there wasn't really anything to tell yet.

Warrick pulled the phone away from his ear and stared at it curiously for a second, wondering why Nick was being so secretive. He shrugged it off, saving his thoughts for table gossip. Maybe Catherine or Sara would know something.

When Warrick arrived at the restaurant, twenty minutes after the time they'd agreed to meet, he was surprised to see that Catherine was the only one there. "Where is everyone?" he asked.

"Grissom, lab. Sara-"

"Lab," Warrick finished her sentence, certain that it was what Catherine was going to say.

Catherine shook her head. "Nope. Said she'd already made other plans."

Warrick raised an eyebrow.

Catherine just shrugged. "Did you call Nick?"

"Yeah, he said he had a date." There was a hint of skepticism in Warrick's tone, suggesting he still didn't believe that Nick was telling the truth.

"With who?"

"Don't know. Couldn't get it out of him. All I know is it's not that new detective from LA and it's not that hottie Archie's been training."

Catherine smiled, hoping his date was with who she thought it was with.

"You know something I don't?" Warrick eyed her as he sat down next to her.

Catherine glanced at the empty chairs around the table, as if to remind him of who else besides Nick had declined their invitation because they'd already had plans.

"You're kidding." He was more shocked than his tone implied. Although he shouldn't have been surprised, he'd seen it coming. It had been obvious for years; it was only a matter of time.

Catherine only arched her eyebrows up at him.

"Man, who'd have thought," he shook his head. "Nick and Griss," he kidded.

Catherine slapped him playfully on the arm.

"Well I guess it's just you and me," Warrick grinned.

"My luck day," Catherine deadpanned.

Sara's doorbell rang at precisely five-thirty. "Hi," she greeted Nick with a toothy smile when she opened the door.

He took in the sight of Sara in her low cut, knee length red dress and was momentarily speechless. "Hi," he managed after a few seconds.

"I'm almost ready, I just need to get my shoes," Sara said as she let Nick inside.

"Okay." He was still having trouble finding any words.

Sara retreated to her bedroom and reemerged wearing her heels. "Okay, I'm ready." She noticed Nick was carrying a bouquet of white trumpet lilies. "Were you planning on carrying those around all night or did you want to give them to me now?" she teased.

Nick had completely forgotten about the flowers in his hands. "Oh, right. These are for you." He handed her the bouquet with a sheepish grin.

"Thanks," she smiled. "Lilies are my favorite."

"I know," he gave her a small smile.

Sara was a little surprised by this, considering she never remembered having ever mentioned it. "Let me just put these in water real quick."

Nick watched Sara as she retrieved a vase from a kitchen cupboard and filled it with water. He was still amazed at how beautiful she looked. Of course she'd look beautiful in anything (or nothing, but he wanted to keep his mind from wandering into that territory, at least for now), but with the dress she had on, she was breathtaking.

"What?" Sara gave him a look when she noticed he was staring.

"Nothing. I mean, you look great. Amazing," he smiled.

"Thanks," she blushed. "You don't look too bad yourself," she returned the compliment as she took a good look at him in his charcoal gray suit for the first time, realizing just how much of an understatement her comment was. She'd seen him in a suit a few times before when he'd had court appearances, but she hoped he'd never worn this one before; it made him almost too handsome, and she was sure it would have been too distracting for the females (and probably some males too) in court.

Nick cleared his throat to break the tension. "So you ready?"

"Yeah."

Nick reached for the doorknob, but Sara was quicker and grabbed it first, so he ended up grabbing her hand.

"Sorry," Nick muttered nervously as he quickly retracted his hand.

"That's okay." Sara too let go of the doorknob as she let out a nervous chuckle and smiled at him.

Nick again reached for the doorknob and this time opened the door. He gestured for Sara to go ahead. "Ladies first," he smiled.

Sara smiled back, and Nick wasn't sure what it was, that smile, or the way she looked in that dress, or both, but suddenly he found his mind wandering into the territory that he told himself to steer clear of. And he wasn't even sure if he made the first move, but before he knew what hit him, they were kissing like they were the other day at the movie theater. But this time, under these circumstances, this kiss definitely meant something. It meant a whole lot to Nick and he realized it also meant a lot to Sara when he felt her reaching for his belt buckle while simultaneously pulling him with her as she backpedaled toward her bedroom.

"Wait," Nick pulled away.

"What?" Sara looked at him, confused and little out of breath.

He reached out and pushed the front door closed. "Okay," he grinned at her.

Sara rolled her eyes and grabbed Nick's tie to pull him towards her, her lips reconnecting with his as they picked up where they left off, somehow managing to stagger all the way to the bedroom without taking their hands or lips off each other.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure we're doing things out of order again," Nick said as he absentmindedly twirled a lock of Sara's hair around his finger. They were lying in each other's arms, on the bedroom floor because they'd fallen off the bed, under Sara's new silk sheets that they'd stripped off the bed.

Sara craned her neck to look at him. "What, are you complaining?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No ma'am," Nick grinned.

"I didn't think so." She leaned in to kiss him. She felt Nick start to smile and she pulled away. "What?"

Nick had a big grin on his face. "So when do you want to go out on that date?"

- The End -

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A/N: As always, thanks to those of you who took the time to review. Your comments are greatly appreciated.


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